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Racing industry calls for inquiry, compensation

AM - Saturday, 1 September , 2007 08:09:28

Reporter: Simon Lauder

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The Federal Government is being urged to reveal its plans for compensation if the outbreak of equine influenza is traced to the Commonwealth quarantine facility at Eastern Creek.

Authorities are now investigating a new theory that a person carried the virus to Australia from overseas, and then passed it onto a horse in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

But racing authorities say the theory has no credibility without an independent inquiry and the Government would be well advised to offer more help.

Simon Lauder reports.

SIMON LAUDER: The Federal Government's already offered $4 million relief to the horse racing industry, and this morning the Agriculture Minister, Peter McGauran, has another offering.

Mr McGauran says horse trainers will be offered the Newstart Allowance for their staff until the industry gets back on track. He says it would be similar to the scheme offered to banana growers after Cyclone Larry.

PETER MCGAURAN: There, we paid Newstart, about $270 per individual, per week to the employer, who then topped that up to get close to the previous wage, and that kept the workforce in the area. We would look at a scheme to keep their workforce intact, because the racing industry does include a lot of specialists who, if they drift away, may not come back.

SIMON LAUDER: The latest theory for the outbreak is that a person, rather than a horse, unwittingly carried it back from overseas and then gave it to a horse.

That would take the Commonwealth's horse quarantine facility out of the equation.

Mr McGauran says authorities are still closely scrutinising the quarantine system, but the new theory is being looked at.

PETER MCGAURAN: Yes, but we're not putting any more weight on that than we are the examination of all of the links in the chain in the quarantine system and assessing the contact any individual had with the horses from the moment they land to the moment of their confinement.

SIMON LAUDER: Malcolm Tuttle from Queensland Racing says the current investigation has no credibility.

MALCOLM TUTTLE: Speculation will not lead us anywhere. We need a completely independent inquiry into what has occurred, and we can't wait months and months and months for that to occur. The evidence is fresh now, we need to get moving with this inquiry now.

SIMON LAUDER: The head of Racing NSW, Peter V'Landys, says he'll also be asking the Minister to set up an independent investigation into the quarantine breach.

PETER V'LANDYS: For future, to ensure that we're using world's best practice for quarantine stations, so no one has to go through this again. We've been very fortunate on this occasion that it's only an equine virus, that it can only be passed onto horses and no horses have had to be destroyed. What if it was a more serious disease?

So we need an investigation purely to ensure that we've got world's best practice at the quarantine station.

SIMON LAUDER: Malcolm Tuttle from Queensland Racing says the chairman of his group will be spelling out to Peter McGauran the kind of compensation that would be demanded by the industry if the quarantine system is found to be at fault.

MALCOLM TUTTLE: There have been opinions offered as to whether or not there is a course of action, a legal course of action, available to those in the industry against the Federal Government.

We simply say that it must be considered prudent, surely, for the Federal Government to comprehensively understand what has led to this situation. Again, we are talking about an industry that quite rightfully should be considered an economic giant within Australia, surely we need to know what has led to the crippling of that industry in both New South Wales and Queensland.

SIMON LAUDER: The Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran says there may well be an independent inquiry later and it's too early to talk about liability.

PETER MCGAURAN: Ministers, governments, departments and agencies are fully accountable and responsible for their actions. This will be an entirely transparent process, whether it's a public inquiry or not.